Gardening : <i> Nerine curvifolia</i> : Nerine lily
Bulb with straplike leaves and clusters of trumpet-shaped flowers
Like amaryllis and crinum, nerines are voluptuous flowers on sturdy, upright stems; vaguely lilylike, the blooms’ petals curve back while the stamens poke straight out, well beyond the petals. While most of the country has to grow tender nerines in pots and bring them indoors during winter, the plants will do very nicely outdoors in Southern California.
Even so, many people prefer to grow their nerines in containers, because these bulbs like to be crowded; there is no need to divide them until four or five years past the initial planting. Just be sure the bulbs are placed only halfway down into the soil and not watered until the first tiny stalk appears. (Those planted outdoors should be buried about three inches deep and lightly watered.)
About five species of nerines are generally--but not widely--available. I arbitrarily chose curvifolia because of its unusually beautiful gold-touched red color and contrasting green stamens. Nerine bowdenii is the more common species--pink flowers, eight to 12 on a stalk, usually blooming late in the year. Nerine filifolia is smaller, only about 18 inches, with rosy red flowers. Nerine sarniensis, the Guernsey lily, is a real beauty: opalescent flowers, from white to red, held aloft on 2-foot stems. (Nerines are native to South Africa, but many years ago a boat carrying these bulbs went down off the coast of Britain’s Isle of Guernsey; the bulbs washed ashore and the islanders renamed them.) There are several varieties of each species.
Nerine bowdenii and N. sarniensis are deciduous; their leaves will wither away before the flowers appear, much like the similar Amaryllis belladonna, or Naked Lady. The deciduous nerines should not be watered or fed after the leaves start to die, but once the leaves reappear in winter, full speed ahead with water and bone meal. The evergreen species should be watered lightly in the summer, and all kinds should be planted in light shade or full sun.
While individual plants are pretty enough, nerines look even better when grown in drifts or large clumps, especially in front of shrubs or taller flowers.
The only problem with nerines is finding them. Burkard Nurseries in Pasadena says they won’t have any more until next October. At its annual May plant sale, the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino has offered nerines that have hybridized naturally on the estate--but there is no guarantee they will be offered next year. Wayside Gardens, Hodges, S.C. 29695-0001, offers Nerine bowdenii; catalogue $1. Fairyland Begonia and Lily Garden, 1100 Griffith Road, McKinleyville, Calif. 955221, offers N. bowdenii and “few red ones.” Fairyland’s catalogue costs 50 cents. If you’re feeling determined and adventurous, write to the Nerine Society, Brookend House, Welland, Worcestershire, England.
